THRILL SCALE 1-10
6.5
HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?
Yes, but only once, shortly after I saw the first Die Hard for the first time
BEST SEQUENCE
When the bad guy messes with a plane's altimeter reading, causing it to crash right into the ground
BEST LINE
Honestly, there aren't that many good lines, so I'll just go with "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker" again
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE
68%
ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS
"It lacks the fresh thrills of its predecessor, but Die Hard 2 still works as an over-the-top -- and reasonably taut -- big-budget sequel, with plenty of set pieces to paper over the plot deficiencies."
IMDB SYNOPSIS
"One year after the Nakatomi Plaza incident, John McClane faces off against terrorists who seize control of Washington Dulles Airport's systems on Christmas Eve, endangering multiple incoming flights, including one carrying his wife, Holly."
DIRECTOR
Renny Harlin
MAIN CAST
Bruce Willis, William Sadler, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, Reginald VelJohnson, Franco Nero, John Amos, Dennis Franz
THOUGHTS
- I'm being hard on Die Hard 2. It's a perfectly serviceable action movie. However, it has the misfortune of coming right after, and being compared to, one of the greatest action movies ever made and it just doesn't stack up
- I've said it before, for a sequel to justify its own existence it needs to be different enough that you wouldn't be better off just rewatching the original instead. Unfortunately, Die Hard 2 does nothing to improve upon the first one, and it actually changes a lot of the qualities that made the first movie so great
- Die Hard was about one man in a mostly empty skyscraper taking down the bad guys with no allies to help him. In Die Hard 2 John McClane is constantly surrounded by people in an airport, and even though he does a lot of the heavy lifting he's not the only person who can save the day
- Add to that the fact that William Sadler can't hold a candle to Alan Rickman in the main villain role; he's a much less interesting antagonist and it's a much less entertaining performance (although naked tai chi in a hotel is a pretty memorable way to introduce a character, I will admit). I don't even think it was William Sadler's fault, he just didn't have much to work with
- And finally, Bruce Willis is good as always with the action stuff, but while the one-liners and wisecracks in the first movie felt organic and clever, in this one they feel forced and hacky. I don't think I laughed once
- Die Hard 2 isn't even very Christmasy. It's set during the Christmas season, but it's really just more wintery and snowy than Christmas-themed. Speaking of being wintery and snowy, the best kill is probably when one of the bad guys takes an icicle to the eye
- So, if you're in the mood for seeing more of John McClane and you don't feel like watching the first Die Hard again, then sure, Die Hard 2 exists. However, there's really nothing about Die Hard 2 that would ever make me pick it over its predecessor. I did want to mention, there was one notable dissenting opinion back when this movie was released. Roger Ebert, whose opinions I generally agree with, did not like the first Die Hard (2/4 stars) and he loved Die Hard 2 (3.5/4 stars). Love ya, Roger, but you were wrong on this one
Up next: Let's try watching a good Die Hard sequel, for a change. I can't remember the last time I saw it, but from what I recall, Die Hard with a Vengeance knew what it was doing (and yes, Ebert liked Vengeance better than the first one also; 3/4 stars)
